ANOTHER SCHOOL IN
STRIFE
RICHARD LEFEVER WILL REPLACE FRANK KARNER AS ACTING UND GEOLOGY CHAIRMAN

The UND engineering school has
named a new geology department chairman in response to concerns about faculty
morale and lack of leadership.A
report this month from an outside review team also has found "serious
deficiencies" that could affect national reaccreditation of UND's geologic
engineering program.

Dean of engineering, Mogens Henriksen, recently recommended Richard LeFever,
an associate professor be named acting geology chairman in place of Frank
Karner. This change is based on his judgment and that of "a number of
faculty" that administrative improvements had to be made. LeFever will
continue as a geology professor

. The
Department of Geology and Geologic Engineering has 13 faculty.

The dean, needing information to better allocate engineering resources in
view of tight budgets for faculty invited a team of faculty members from
other states to visit UND in December to access the geology department.

The
review team found several problems the engineering school and its geology
department are now trying to address. Among the findings:

The geology department "lacks leadership and focus," and
divisive elements exist within the faculty. Some professors were not on
speaking terms with each other. Morale and leadership problems were cited as
a factor in the possible exodus of three younger faculty members.

A better balance of courses was needed to reflect trends in the field.

Only a small number of faculty are devoted to the geologic engineering
program, and none is a geologic engineer. More engineering influence is
needed to meet accreditation standards.

Relations were chilly with the Energy and Environmental Research Center,
the $20-million-a-year contracting branch of the School of Engineering and
Mines.

"I, strongly support Rich LeFever, and I'm really encouraged by what
he's done. I feel it's a time for a change."

Former Chairman Karner said "I think the outside reviewers, who were
here a day and a half, have a limited perspective of the department. Therefore,
there are parts of their report that are inaccurate. I wish they had had more
time."